- Tokyo stocks closed lower for a third straight day on Friday.
- The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.72% to end at 30 017.92, while the broader Topix index lost 0.67%.
- Japan's core consumer price index that excludes fresh food was down 0.6% on-year in January.
Tokyo stocks closed lower for a third straight day on Friday, tracking falls on Wall Street, with investors in wait-and-see mode ahead of the weekend.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.72% or 218.17 points to end at 30 017.92, while the broader Topix index lost 0.67% or 12.96 points to 1 928.95.
Wall Street stocks declined on weak US labour data and Walmart results, with the Dow finishing down 0.4% at 31 493.34.
"The Nikkei index opened lower after three major US indexes fell. There was resistance to the downward trend in the morning, but there was no active movement ahead of the weekend," Okasan Online Securities said.
In Tokyo trading, Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing dropped 2.42% to 104 750 yen while Sony dipped 0.29% to 11 965 yen.
Automakers were lower with Toyota falling 0.34% to 8 065 yen, Honda sinking 2.32% to 2 981 yen and Nissan losing 1.12% to 588.7 yen.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group edged up 0.09% to 10 350 yen.
The dollar fetched 105.58 yen in Asian trade, against 105.66 yen in New York late Thursday.
Japan's core consumer price index that excludes fresh food was down 0.6% on-year in January - the sixth consecutive monthly decline and in line with market expectations, according to official data released before the opening bell.
